Cotton extracting and cleaning machine



, 1920. EET 1.

Patented N 0v. 23 SH 2 SHEET ITTOR/VE'K 0. PARKS. COTTON EXTRACTING AND CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I8, I918. 4 1,360,015. Patented Nov. 23,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

[NYE/V7019: DEN/W6 PIP/rs nrroelvzx names stares Parana."

ennis-ranks, on em. LOUIS, rarssouzar.

cor'roN nxrnaornve Ann icrlnnlvmo MACHINE.

naeaois.

p ion t n iatented Nov. as, ra se.

Application f led Mach 18, 1918. serial No. 223.124.

shown, for example. in Patent No, 1,030,913

dated July 2,1912andll o. 1,129,220dated February 23,1915. 1

In each of the machines shown in the i above patents it is-contemplated that the mixed cotton,hulls and bolls shall be subjected to agitation and impact by means of a revolving member, with the object of breaking up any unopened bolls, or of sepag rating the hulls from bolls which have opened, but from which the cottonhas not been extracted. breaker isshown in the latter of the abovenamed patents, and is more particularly described and claimed in my prior Patent No. 1.081%61 dated December 16, 19 13.-

In operating. upon cotton bolls in the manner set forth in theabove patents, it has always been found difficult to adjust the degree of breaking action,.regulated by the speed of rotation of the breaking. cylinder, to the character of the bolls bein treated, which in different seasons, or in diderent periods of the same season, and even in the same massof raw material, will frequently vary considerably inthe degree of .toughness or brittleness." vThis difiiculty may be stated, briefly, to reside in the fact that if the breaker is rotated at aspeed adapted to break up bolls that are relatively tough, such, for example, as damp bolls, bolls that are dry and relatively brittle will have their hulls practically pulverized, rendering it extremely difficult to separate the fine hull particles from the cotton.

The above difficulty was long since'recognized, and in Patent No. 1,120,220, means outside of the breaking chamberare provided for acting on bolls which may not have been reduced, by the initial break ing action. It .has since been discovered, however, and demonstrated by commercial machines, that the best results are secured.

by acting on all of the bolls inthe breaking chamber.

Aspecial form of b0111- It is general object ofthe present in- V .Vention therefore, to accomplish the break-- ing'up of cotton bolls, of whatevercharacter, and no matter how much they may vary in toughness, or brittleness, in the same mass, in a continuousoperation inv a single breaking chamber, withoutthe attendant disadvantage, of crushing, or, pulverizing the hulls, above alluded to.

W" hthis; object in vi w, .1

pr vide a Y machine {which will normally have. af-u niform degree of breaking action upon the.

- bolls, and which will provide automatically I for the removal or the cotton and fhulls of broken bolls assoon as disintegration 'occurs and for continued action-upon bolls tougher than those. of anaverage character-, whereby I avoidsubjecting the hulls of broken bolls tothe repeated action of the breaker which, as stated, tends topulverize the hull sections broken be, from." the bolls. According to thisinve'ntion', therefore should the same batch of raw. material/contain bolls varying intheir. degree of toughness or.

brittleness, all the bolls "Will be uniform ly broken up, as, the inor'eb'rittle bolls will be rapidly disintegrated and the cotton and hulls thereof instantly drawn out of the breaking chamber, while the tougher: bolls will be prevented from passing out .oflthea breaking cylinder.

,The invention likwise involves means for chamberuntiltheyinturn have been broken I l up by the repeated impact action of the i adjusting the degree of treatment in .thef Y breaking chamber without'varying the in} tensity of the breaklng' action, to provide for variations, from average cond1t1ons;'as,

for exampleywhere, the bolls are otlsubstantially uniform character, but are either uniformly-smaller, or tougher,- or more brittle,'than the average; Such adjustmentof the degree ofbreaking action is effected, in

the present embodiment of the, invention, by

' regulating: the discharge from thebreaking chamber, so that. the bolls may be retained in the latter a longer or shorter ,timeaccord ing .to theirdegree of toughness; or, ifthey are uniformly small,be prevented from es- Gaping from the breaking. chamberf until their hulls have been completely brokeaoa. V

invention. is illusrated in the accompanying drawlngs n Wl11Ch,-. v 1 Figure. 11s a vlew ln'BIlCl elevat onjof a lie machine-constructed according tpmylinveii;

ciently close proximity to the breakingc lthe bolls. The numeral 10 indicates an out Fig. 2 is a central, vertical section, looking from the opposite end of the machine to thatshown in Fig. l.v

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the casing of the'machine,

' 7- and a casing member 8, the screen permit ting an in tial separation'of. dirt and refuse from the cotton, Ias will be understood. Mounted. on the-breaking cylinder are a seriesof beater-arms 9, which rotate in proximity to said screen and easing member and operate to break the bolls by impact therewith, so as to separate the hulls forming the bolls, as distinguished from a crushing action, such as would be produced'by mashing or grinding the bolls. In fact, the casing merely acts, in this regard, to direct the course of the cottonand bolls in the breaking chamber, and to hold them in sufiiinder to permit the c to c let from the breaking chamber across which,

and partly closing it, extends an angle-bar 11 which is secured to the underside of rod 12, the latter extending from end to end of the machine, and being mounted in suitable hearings in the end walls of the latter.

At one end the rod 12 extends through the end wall of the casing and'has secured on such extension, bya set-screw 13, the upper end ofa lever 14, to the lower end of which ispivotally connected one end of a bar .15, the other end of which extends through a keeper 16 at the front of the machine, and

is provided on itsflower side a said end portion with a series of notches 17, one or the other of which may be brought into engagement with the keeper 16. By disengaging the bar 15 from the keeper 16 and pulling it outward, or pushing it inward, the

rod 12 maybe turned to vary the position of the angle bar 11 relative to the bottom edge of the openlng 10, as well as its distance from a picker roll'lS, whereby to increase or decrease the capacity of the dis charge outlet from the crushing chamber.

The picker roll 18 comprises a cylinder provided around its circumference with series of longitudinally-extending" channelbars -l9,'and is mounted on a shaft 20 to be rotated in the direction shown by the arrow. At its upper side the picker roll 18 issurrounded by a concaved frame member 21, which is shown to be lined on its inner side withsheet metal 22, and to the rear end of the frame piece 21' is connected the upper end of a curved Jsheet-metal member 23,

which is connected at its ends to the end.

and the guard. The upper inner end of the l 24 is shown'to he connected to the upper outer end of the casing member 8, the edge of which latter forms the lower edge of the discharge opening 10. It will be understood, of course, that both the guard 24- and the'casing 8 extend transversely of the machine from lid to end thereof. The guard 24' is mounted on cross-bars 25 and 26, wh

tcr also supports the upper end of the casing member 8; The curved sheet-metal frame member 23extends a considerable dlstance below the plcker roll 18, and with the crossbar confines an uninterrupted'space, in- (heated by the numeral 27, provldlng an agitating chamber. The numeral 28 indicates the saw cylinder, mounted on' a shaft 29; thenumer'al 30, a kicker roll, mounted on a a shaft 31; and'the numeral32, a doffer roll,

mounted on 'a shaft 33, these members being adapted to rotatein the directions shown by the arrows thereon, and operating in the.

samemanner as shown and described in the patents above referred to. That "is tosay, the cotton is carried'aroundby the saw, cylinder audcontinuously removed therefrom by the doifer roll; whiie the hull particles .'e knocked back by the kicker roll, and eventually pass out of the machine. In cc of the double hull board shown in the tehelljPat'c'nt No. 1,680,913, prefer to use single adjustable hull board 34 below which is mounted, on a shaft 85, a smooth roller 36, rotating in'th'e direction shown by the arrow, and replacing the lower hull hoard of the said Mitchell patent' These tin-es, however, form no part of the present invention and will be described and cl ned in a separate application to be filed by the said John Mitchell.

The num al 37 indicates a conveyor mounted lfifor removing refuse from ti s1 ace is provided betwe screen c. the casing of the machine, which termina es in a chainber 49 in. whic,v -s a conveyeretl. on a shaft 4-2 for removing dust," or other particles passing through the screen. 7. Extensions of yarious shafts entering into the driving mechanism are shown in Fig. l. which shafts areprovided with pulleysover which travels a belt do causing; thesaiu shafts to be rotated in the directions shownby the arrows in Fig.

'2. The driving pulley 43 is on the opposite side of the machine from that shown in Fig.7

1, and is fast on the'shaft 33, on the same end of which is a pinion le'meshing with V agear i5 which rotates theshaft 39 of the saw cylinder. On the opposite end of the shaft ismounted a pulley L6 whirhcauses the travel of the belt 4&3. v The smooth roll 36 is rotatechfrom the shaft 38 by means oi a pinion 47 on said shaft in mesh with a gear 48, on the shait of said smooth roller. A. belt tightening pulley -19 issupported on a lever arm 50 which is pivotally mounted on the rod 12 and which may be held in adjusted positions through the me dium of a slotted'ektension 51, the slot of which works over stud 52 which is provided with a lock-nut 53. A window 54- is preferably provided at one end of the machine or closed, enter the breaking chamber, they are subjected to the impact ot' the revolving beater arms 9 and when broken up, the cotton and adhering hulls are drawn through the discharge opening 10 by the picker roll 18 and delivered to the agitating chamber 27, where the cotton is separated from the hulls by the'actlon of the saw cyl nder and kicker roll in the usual manner. 'Anyunbroken bolls will fall down in the breaking chamber and be again subjected to impact from tne beater arms 9. This continues until. they are broken apart when the picker roll will in turn drawthe cotton and adhering hulls through'the opening 10. The speed of rotation of the crushing cylinder is relatively moderate, so-that the brittle bolls may be 'apidly broken up by a series of light blows and their hull particles be instantly carried out of the breaking chamber by the picker roll before the hulls have been crushed, or broken up intosmall pieces,

by the action of the beater arms. The

tougher bolls will simply remain in the breaking chamber.- a'nd be'subjected to repeated impact action of the breaking cylinder until they are broken apart, as an unbroken boll cannot pass out of the discharge opening 10. it will readily be seen that by this arrangement I provide against repeated action or" the breaking cylinder on the brit tle hull particles, which would "tend to'pulerize them, and also'that I obviate the necessity of rotating the. breaking cylinder at such a speed as to break'tlietougher'bolls at the same time that the brittle bolls are broken, which increase in the intensity of action of'the'breaking cylinder would also 7 tend to pulverize the hulls of the brittle bolls. in" other-words, 'my intention provides ior'the gradual or progressive disi n tegration of the bolls according tothe degree of their brittleness, the hull particles and cotton of? each character ot'bo ll being i,

promptly drawn from the machine as soon as the boll is broken up or disintegrated,

thus, as"; stated, preventing unnecessary breaking up and pulverrln ng of hullparticles which have already been brokenaway from the 10011.

I desire to emphasize the importance of the particular marin'ei' of breaking up, or

disintegrating,the bolls abovedescribed. "it is vitally-essential to thesucce'ssiiul opera tion of the machine that the bolls be broken without breakingor crushing the hull sec tions separated from the bolls in the breaking action. It 'is necessary that such hull Y sections remain intact so that they can be separated from the cotton by the'kicker roll rotating above the saw I cylinder. the

hulls have been broken up, jo-r' crushed, the small particles will be carried through "by the saws with" the cotton; wh ereas, it 'theyhave not been damaged, or broken, the kicker roll knocksthem out of the cotton. To avoid crushing the hulls, I rely solely upon imv pact action, caused by relatively light blows of arms on a rotating member. Such action Y simply breaks the bolls apart at the point where the bulls joint on the stemswithout crushing the'hulls' and puts-the jmass'in the most desirable shape torseparatii ig the cotton iromthe hullsr v It should also be remarked that the provision of means for, insuring the prompt withdrawal of the hulls and cotton from the breaking chamber is quite as iinportantias the manner of breaking the bolls referred to.- It will be noted that one side of the-dis; charge opening from the breaking chamber Y is in motion through the rotation v of the picker rolhtheireby insuring a free discharge I for all loose cotton and hulls, which are withdrawn immediately from the breaking chamber. This permits running "the break ingcylinder at a "moderatespeed, sothat hulls of the most" brittle bolls are readily I separated from eachother, w-ithout' being 'I-"- damaged or crushed, and instantly discharged fromthe breaking chamberi'gwhile the tough bolls, and bolls of medium tougha ness, remain longer within the breaking. chamber and are struck as' many blows by the beater'arms as a-re' necessary'j to break the hulls apart at the stem, thenumber; of blows required in each case depending upon the'toughness of th e boll. 'But inallcases, v i i V cotton, but the cotton extracted from. the

closed bolls is discharged from the machine in a clean condition, and is thoroughly drawn out, or loosened up, by the action of the picker roll, and subsequently by that of the saw cylinder. These machines have not only shown, in operation, that a large amount of boll cotton which would otherwise be wasted canbe extracted, but that said cotton is rendered more salable than would otherwise be the case, by being placed in a condition, as to cleanliness and character, substantially on a par with hand-picked cotton.

- I claim '1. A cotton extracting and cleaning machine, comprising, inv combination, a boll breaking chamber having an outlet, means located in said chamber for breaking bolls, an agitating chamber having working com munication with said boll breaking chamber, cotton separating mechanism operating in the agitating chamber, and means for regulating the progressive discharge from the outlet of the boll breaking chamber into the agitating chamber of the disintegrated bolls in the order of their reduction.

2. A cotton extracting and cleaning machine according to claim 1 in which the means for breaking the bolls are rotatably mounted in the boll breakingchamber.

c 3; A cotton extracting and cleaning machine according to claim 1 in which the boll breakingmeansoperatesby impact on the bolls. w

4. A cotton extracting and cleaning machine comprising in combination, a boll breaking chamber having an outlet embodying a stationary and a rotatable member, and of a size to permit broken bolls only to pass therethrough, means located in said chamber for breaking bolls, an agitating chamber: having working communication with said boll breaking chamber, and cotton separating mechanism operating in the agitating chamber, said qrotary member being adapted to withdraw from theboll breaking chamber anddischarge into said agitatingchamber, the cotton and hulls of dismtegrated bolls in the order of the reduction of the latter.

breaking chamber having an outlet, a

and operating to break the bolls by impact only, an agitating chamber having working communication with said boll breaking chamber, cotton separating mechanism operating in the agitating chamber, and a picker roll for withdrawing from the boll breaking chamber and discharging into the agitating chamber, the cotton. and hulls of the disintegrated bolls in the order of the reduction of the latter. v

6. In a cotton extracting and cleaning machine, in combination with chamber, a boll breaker mounted therein and adjusted to break the more brittle bolls'only of a given mass of raw material in a given time, cotton separating mechanism remote from said chamber, means for withdrawing from the chamber and delivering to said cotton separating mechanism the cotton and hulls or" disintegrated bolls in the order of their reduction, and means for preventing the escape from said chamber of the tougher bolls until they have been broken by repeated action of the boll breaking means,

7. In a cotton extracting and cleaning machine, in combination with a chamber, a rotary impact boll breaker mounted therein, and operating to break the more brittle bolls only of a given mass of raw material ina given time, cotton separating mechanism remote from said chamber, means for withdrawingfrom the chamber and delivering to said cotton separating mechanism the cotbroken bolls only, cottonseparating means, I

and a picker roll forming one side of, and rotatably mounted adjacent to said discharge outlet and between the latter and said cotton separating means.

9. In a cotton extracting and cleaning machine, in combination with a chamber provided with means for breaking bolls and having a discharge outlet, means for vary- 7 ing the size of said outlet, cotton separating means, and a picker roll rotatably mounted outside of said chamber adjacent to said discharge outlet and between the latter and said cotton separating means.

10. In a cotton extracting and cleaning machine, in combination with a chamber provided withmeans for breaking bolls and having a discharge outlet, cotton separating means, a picker roll rotatably mounted adjacent to said discharge outlet and between the latter and saidcotton separating means,

vand an adjustable member movable toward and from said picker roll and adapted there picker r011 forming one side of, and located 10 by to vary the size of saidfdischarge adjacent to said discharge outlet for draW-= 7 opening. ing the cotton and hulls of-broken bolls 11. In a cotton extracting and cleaning through said discharge opening and deliver machine, in combination with a chamber ing the same to the cotton separating means.

provided with a rotary-impact boll breaker, In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 15 and having a discharge outlet of a size to my hand. prevent unbroken bolls from passing there- I through, cotton separating means, and a DENNIS PARKS. 

